There are several types of milk available in the dairy aisle of most grocery stores. They mainly differ in their fat content. Whole milk is sometimes ...HealthConditionsDiscoverPlanConnectSubscribeNutritionHealthyEatingMealPrepLifestyleDietsWeightManagementVitamins&SupplementsConditionsProductsNutritionEvidenceBasedIsWholeMilkBetterThanLowFatandSkimMilk?MedicallyreviewedbyAdrienneSeitz,MS,RD,LDN,Nutrition—WrittenbyBeckyBell,MS,RDandCeliaShatzman—UpdatedonJune14,2021Milkisoneofthemostnutritiousbeveragesontheplanet,whichexplainswhyit’sastapleinschoollunchesandisapopularbeverageforpeopleofallages.Fordecades,nutritionguidelineshaverecommendedonlylowfatdairyproductsforeveryoneover2yearsold.However,inrecentyears,scientistshavecalledthatrecommendationintoquestion(1).Recentstudiessuggestthatskimmightnotalwaysbethehealthiestoptionwhenitcomestomilk.ShareonPinterestCatherineFallsCommercial/GettyImagesDifferenttypesofmilk:Whole,lowfatandskimThereareseveraltypesofmilkavailableinthedairyaisleofmostgrocerystores.Theymainlydifferintheirfatcontent.Wholemilkissometimesreferredtoas“regularmilk”becausetheamountoffatinithasnotbeenaltered.Skimand1%milkareproducedbyremovingfatfromwholemilk.Fatcontentismeasuredasapercentageofthetotalliquid,byweight.Herearethefatcontentsofpopularmilkvarieties:wholemilk:3.25%milkfatlowfatmilk:1%milkfatskim:Lessthan0.5%milkfatThistablesummarizesthenutrientsin1cup(237mL)ofseveralmilkvarieties:SkimMilkLowFatMilkWholeMilkCalories83102146Carbs12.5grams12.7grams12.8gramsProtein8.3grams8.2grams7.9gramsFat0.2grams2.4grams7.9gramsSaturatedFat0.1grams1.5grams4.6gramsOmega-3s2.5mg9.8mg183mgCalcium306mg290mg276mgVitaminD100IU127IU97.6IUSincefathasmorecaloriesbyweightthananyothernutrient,milkwithahigherfatcontenthasmorecalories(2,3,4).VitaminDisanothernutrientthatcandifferdependingonthefatcontent.It’safat-solublevitamin,soinmilkit’snaturallypresentonlyinthefat.However,mostmilkmanufacturersaddvitaminDtomilk,soeverytypehasasimilarvitaminDcontent.Oneofthemostsignificantnutr